Marketing 101 from Miley Cyrus, Beyonce and More

By Alinn Louv | Yahoo Small Business

Marketing 101 from Miley Cyrus, Beyonce and More

Every marketer dreams about having the same kind of following, virality and relevancy as Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Beyonce. They could literally say anything and get thousands of retweets, comments, shares and likes; no market research necessary. Music has reached new heights as artists cross the line into a level of stardom that could never have existed without social media. Whether you turn on the radio and hate what you hear or love it, it doesn’t change the fact that these artists are popular. They all know exactly how to market themselves as a brand, who their target audience is, and how to reach them. If you listen closely, they even sing about it. Let’s start with Miley.

1. Miley Cyrus – “And we can’t stop. And we won’t stop”
Social media is on all the time, it doesn’t stop. People are constantly posting, uploading, liking, tweeting and sharing, with no signs that its going to slow down. Make sure you are constantly on your social, it is no longer just something you can hand off to an intern. More and more people are paying attention to businesses on social and mistakes can be costly.

2. Lorde – “We craze a different kind of buzz”
Know your audience. Each target demographic has unique tastes, styles and interests and respond differently to each social network. Research where your consumers spend time online, so you’ll know where to reach them and what will interest them.

3. P!nk – “Just give me a reason”Don’t just throw content out there, willy nilly. Give your audience a reason to like, follow or share. You’ll see that people are very willing to interact with a business, as long as they can relate or respond to your post.

4. Avicii – “All this time I was finding myself and I didn’t know I was lost”
Find your voice. For any business, not just Brands, it is essential to have a strong voice and point of view for your audience to connect with you. Consumers are much more likely to become loyal customers when they know who you are as a business.

5. Macklemore – “Give it to the people, spread it across the country”
Enable your fans and customers to shape your brand. They’ll let you know what they like or what they don’t like and they’ll make your business go viral. As social grows, consumers are becoming more likely to voice their opinion, and its being heard. Peer to peer anything is taking up steam and pulling straight ahead of traditional marketing techniques.

6. Robin Thicke – “I hate these blurred lines”
Once you’ve found your niche, commit. You’ll develop a loyal fan base who strongly advocates for your brand and will be active top influencers versus people who are passive followers. Social is continually becoming more about the quality of your following, instead of sheer numbers.

7. Will.I.Am ft. Justin Bieber – “#thatPower”
Although this song wasn’t that big of a hit, hashtags definitely made an impression in 2013, with Facebook adopting them as well. They instantly create social campaigns that can easily go viral, creating User Generated Content for your brand every time their used. Easily increase your social reach by pairing any promotion you do with a catchy hashtag.

8. Beyonce – self titled “Beyonce” all visual album
And the Holy Grail of Social Media Marketing from music? The Queen B herself releasing a surprise album, via social networks like Instagram, with no marketing preceding it whatsoever.To top it all off, every song is a music video, creating the first all visual album of its kind. Beyonce freed herself from traditional marketing and got in touch with her audience where they are present, on social. She also keyed into the rising trend of visuals and video for 2014. This huge investment paid off. The album broke iTunes records, went number 1 in 104 different countries, and sold over 800,000 copies in the first weekend.

Whether or not you’re a fan, these celebrities’ social media prowess is definitely something to look into. And maybe you shouldn’t just change the radio station the next time you hear them on your commute.